In the aftermath of the bankruptcy of FTX, a global cryptocurrency exchange, a cold wave also hit the blockchain game industry.
Blockchain games disappeared at the nation’s largest game exhibition “G-Star 2022” held at BEXCO in Busan on the 17th. In contrast, blockchain and metaverse emerged as keywords last year, followed by related announcements. In particular, some say that big game companies such as Nexon, Netmarble, and Krafton have announced their entry into the blockchain business one after another this year, showing a disappointing presence compared to the expectations of the blockchain industry.
A total of 2,947 booths were set up inside the exhibition hall on the first floor of BEXCO. The scale has more than doubled compared to last year’s event, which was reduced to COVID-19. However, except for Wemade, who was the main sponsor of the event, there were no booths related to blockchain games inside the exhibition hall. Metabus platform companies Redbrick and Ego World operated booths related to Metabus, but focused on Metabus contents such as Metabus 3D builders and VR experience devices rather than on cryptocurrency and NFT.
G-Star 2022 is operating at the G-Star World booth/photo = D-Center
It is explained that it is cautious to put it at the forefront as large-scale negative factors such as FTX bankruptcy and the designation of WEMIX items occur and the view of cryptocurrency is not good. An official from Goego World said, “Game companies have no choice but to be passive in promoting blockchain games,” adding, “We have operated the booth because we applied for the booth in advance in May.” However, he added that there is no financial impact from the FTX incident. He said, “The bankruptcy of FTX is distinguishing between companies that are well-managed and companies that are not,” adding, “As divers are fine even if there is a tsunami, companies that are well-managed will be fine.”
When asked about the current status of the blockchain business, the booth of a large game company showed a very sensitive response. A Krafton official refused to answer, saying, “We decided not to accept questions related to blockchain games at this event.” Nexon and Neowiz also declined to say that they have no plans to apply blockchain technology to the event entries yet.
An official from IOTRUST, the only blockchain company to open an exhibition booth, expressed regret, saying, “This year’s event included the story of the blockchain.” He said, “We set up a booth to operate wallet solution B2B for small and medium-sized game companies that are difficult to develop and operate wallet services directly, but we are less interested than expected.”
In the G-CON conference session held together on the same day, discussions on blockchain games were not held. The announcement of the platform strategy of Wemade, the main sponsor of the event, and the announcement of the Southeast Asian mobile game company “iCandy Interactive” on the theme of Web 3.0 games on the last day of the conference are all. There are no announcements from domestic companies other than Wemade.